impressions | spring 2019

Careers centered on service: GSDM alumni give back to communities around the world

A Message from the Dean

“The mantle of responsibility is one that our students and residents, and our alumni, don eagerly.”

There is always something special about spring in Boston, and this year is no exception. You can feel the excitement and energy infusing the hallways, classrooms, laboratories, and patient treatment centers of our School; students, residents, faculty, and staff all have a little extra bounce in their step.

The awakening that comes with spring is an apt metaphor for this moment in the history of the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM). We truly are on the cusp of a new era of excellence, and are positioned to become THE premier academic dental institution in the United States—and even the world. The first phase of our Addition & Renovation Construction Project was completed earlier this year, and the second phase is well underway. It is already possible to see the difference that the project will make—from the new Patient Treatment Centers’ Waiting Area to the new Patient & Visitor Entrance to new, state-of-the-art office suites for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Finance. In addition, the completion of the first phase provided us with a brand new Supply Store, Repair Shop and state-of-the art Central Sterilization Room. The completion of the second phase in early 2020 will then bring online a new 140-seat auditorium, 60 new technologically advanced patient treatment rooms, and a cuttingedge Simulation Learning Center, as well as new administrative and collaborative spaces, and for the first time in the proud history of our School a Student & Resident Lounge. Moreover, the building will also look brand new, as it will be clad in an entirely new façade with contemporary sheathing.

Our new building, which so many of you have supported through your generous donations, will afford our students and residents great opportunity—to learn, to research, to collaborate, and to provide the best possible care to the patients we have the privilege of caring for at GSDM. And with this opportunity comes great responsibility—to serve, to give back, to heal.

The mantle of responsibility is one that our students and residents, and our alumni, don eagerly. You can see this in the way they embrace the many local and international volunteer opportunities organized by our Office of Global & Population Health, in the way they recognize the importance of immersing themselves in international communities in order to develop their own cultural competency, and in the way they choose career paths centered on service.

In this issue, I am honored to feature stories from some of these students, residents, and alumni, and I also know that the stories we have included in this issue highlight just a fraction of the ways our alumni are giving back to their communities. I encourage you to share your stories with us so we can continue to document the many ways our alumni are improving the overall health of the global population.

In closing, I could not be more proud of our global community and the work you all do on a daily basis. I am honored and privileged to be your dean.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey W. Hutter, DMD, MEd Dean and Spencer N. Frankl Professor in Dental Medicine

A Message from the Alumni President

GSDM Alumni: By the Numbers

70 Patient Treatment Rooms out of 100 named

8,027 alumni across the globe

Over $2 million raised from 861 donors

Gifts came from the U.S., Canada, Guatemala, Iran, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Giving Day 2018: top 5 out of 17 schools at BU in amount raised ($124,125) and number of donors (302).

Class Gift 2018: First out of 17 schools with a 73 percent participation rate

Dear Fellow Alumni,

A year ago at this time, I wrote my first letter to you as president of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) Alumni Association. And what a year it has been! From the groundbreaking ceremony on the School’s Addition and Renovation Construction Project in April 2018 to the “Topping Off” ceremony in March 2019, the construction work has proceeded in leaps and bounds. We no longer have to rely on virtual-reality glasses to envision what the newly expanded and renovated school will look like—we can see the progress with our own eyes.

This transformative project will position the School for a new era of excellence and give us the tools, resources, and space we need to prepare students and residents to be cutting-edge practitioners, researchers, and leaders in the oral healthcare profession. That’s central to our mission as a School, but our mission goes even further to emphasize service—service to our community, to our patients, to our profession and to a global population. And I think that is what’s so special and unique about GSDM: embedded in the leadership and excellence demonstrated by our students, residents, alumni, faculty, staff and administration is a deep commitment to improving the world through service.

That service takes many forms, and in this issue, we explore some of them. You’ll hear from alumni who went on to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, and from alumni— and current students and residents—whose lives and career trajectories were changed by experiences they had traveling and practicing abroad.

The commitment to service that these alumni have—that all of you have—was developed and strengthened during their years at GSDM, through events such as Global Days of Service and other local community service efforts, and through programs such as the International Externship Exchange program and the International Elective Externship program. These important programs rely on alumni support—either in volunteer hours or financial donations—and I am deeply grateful for your ongoing support. I look forward to working with each and every one of you to ensure that future generations of GSDM students and residents continue to have access to opportunities that develop their service mindset.

Sincerely,

Sean Rayment DMD 97 DSc 00 Alumni Association President

Leadership: New Alumni Board Members

Jignesh Rudani DMD 17

Dr. Jignesh Rudani received his DMD from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine in 2017. He also has a master’s in public health from Tulane University (Louisiana) and a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Gujarat University (India).

Since September 2017, Dr. Rudani has been practicing as an associate general dentist at Advance Smile Dental Creator in Allentown, Pennsylvania. During his time at GSDM and earlier in his career, Dr. Rudani completed a number of externships, including at Boston Medical Center, Franciscan Children’s Hospital, South Boston Community Health Center & Orchard Gardens, and Louisiana State University School of Dentistry. He also served as a graduate teaching assistant for a number of courses, both at GSDM and at Tulane University, and as a research assistant.

Dr. Rudani is currently a member of the American Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the Pennsylvania Dental Board.

Ashish R. Agarwal DMD 17

Dr. Ashish R. Agarwal received his DMD from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine’s DMD Advanced Standing program in 2017. He also has a master’s in public administration from Long Island University (New York) and a bachelor of dental surgery from M. A. Rangoonwala College of Dental Sciences and Research Center (India).

Since October 2017, Dr. Agarwal has been practicing as the lead dentist at Dr. Dental of Lynn, Massachusetts. Earlier in his career, he worked as a credentialing and compliance manager at PhyCARE Solutions in New York, and as an associate dentist at Advance Care Dental Clinic in India.

Dr. Agarwal has been involved in volunteering and community service for years. While at GSDM, he volunteered for a several local organizations, including Haley House and Greater Boston Food Bank. He’s also volunteered for the American Cancer Society and American Red Cross.

Dr. Agarwal is currently a member of the American Academy of General Dentistry, the Massachusetts Dental Society, the American Dental Association, and the American Dental Education Association.

Of Note

Awards, recognition, and accomplishments

Arghavan Shahidi DMD 01 was presented in September 2018 with GSDM’s Distinguished Alumni Award for her leadership and her outstanding ethical and professional integrity in the field of dental medicine.

Six members of the GSDM community were inducted in October 2018 into the American College of Dentists in recognition of their outstanding leadership and exceptional contributions to dentistry and society: Larry Dunham DMD 83, Mark Ferriero, Neal Fleisher DMD 84 PERIO 86, Cataldo Leone, Gigi Meinecke DMD 88, and Debra Pan DPH 86 DMD 01.

The International College of Dentists inducted six GSDM alumni into its ranks in October 2018 in recognition of their outstanding professional achievements, meritorious service, and dedication to the continued progress of dentistry for the benefit of humankind: Adelina Duka DMD 13, Cherae M. Farmer-Dixon DPH 14, Lindsey Dawn Jackson DMD 12, Linda Massod DMD 91, Ricardo Mendoza PEDO 95, Stephen Gannett Morse PERIO 88.

Nadim Z. Baba PROS 99 MSD 00 was named the president of the American College of Prosthodontists and was sworn in for a one-year term at the organization’s 48th Annual Session, held October 31-November 3, 2018.

In February 2019, the Massachusetts Dental Society named four GSDM alumni and one GSDM faculty member to its “10 under Ten” list: Colin Brady DMD 13, Theresa Guanci DMD 14, David Kim (faculty), Kadambari Rawal AEGD 10 DPH 18, and Cameron Shahbazian DMD 14. The award honors dental professionals who are exemplary

Leila Joy Rosenthal, clinical professor of general dentistry, was recognized in February 2019 for 60 years of service to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, where she teaches studio art classes to students of all ages.

Belinda Borrelli, professor of Health Policy & Health Services Research and director of the Center for Behavioral Sciences Research, was inducted as a

volunteers and rising stars in their profession.

Yuko Otsubo PROS 17 won the 2019 Clinical Poster Award during the American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics annual meeting in February 2019. The award acknowledges excellence in prosthodontics as demonstrated by innovative patient-treatment methods and materials.

Hesham Nouh DSc 12 PROS 15 was awarded the 2019 Claude R. Baker Faculty Award at the American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics in February 2019. The award recognizes exceptional dental school junior faculty members in predoctoral fixed prosthodontic teaching.

fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine during the society’s annual meeting in March 2019. Fellow status is conferred by the society on full members in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of the science and practice of behavioral medicine.

Kadambari Rawal AEGD 10 DPH 18 was in March 2019 one of 10 dentists chosen from more than 120 nominations for the American Dental Association’s “10 under 10” list. The award recognizes 10 new dentists who demonstrate excellence early on their careers; winners were chosen for making a difference in science, research and education; practice excellence; philanthropy; leadership; and advocacy.

She Serves

Three GSDM alumnae are on active duty at the frontlines of dentistry

By Shannon C. Broderick

While members of the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine Class of 2013 were making postgraduate plans for weekends away or afternoons at the beach, Lieutenant Commander Danielle Berkowitz of the Dental Corps, U.S. Navy was learning…to make a bed.

“Our rooms had to be perfectly clean, our uniforms had to be perfect….I think making the beds perfect was probably the most challenging.” Berkowitz said of her time in Officer Candidate School.

“We wound up sleeping on our made beds, because they would show up early without notice…you would have two minutes to make the bed perfect. So, we would sleep on top,” she laughed.

Berkowitz, who graduated in 2013, is serving in the U.S. Navy, while two of her classmates, Captain Promotable Caitlin Reddy and Captain Promotable Sara Mandell are serving in the U.S. Army. Each year, almost 5 percent of U.S. dental school graduates go on to become dentists in the uniformed services.

“Lieutenant Commander Berkowitz, and Captains Promotable Mandell and Reddy embody both GSDM and BU’s commitment to service,” Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter said. “As a former member of the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, I could not be more proud of these three women, as well as the many GSDM alumni who have served and continue to serve our nation.”

Passion for Pediatric Dentistry

Lieutenant Commander Danielle Berkowitz said she first discovered a passion for pediatric dentistry during her days at GSDM. As a predoctoral student and member of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA), she volunteered at Boston-area schools doing preventative oral health screenings for children.

commonly associated with the military, it provides many opportunities to work with the families of service members.

After graduating, Berkowitz spent five weeks in Officer Candidate School at the Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island. She then completed a year-long general-practice residency at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton, a large Marine Corps base in Southern California.

After her year in California, Berkowitz moved even further abroad, to the Dental Clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base located at US Naval Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan where she was deployed for two years.

While in Japan, Berkowitz was able to work under Commander Carey Collins Deisley, a pediatric dentist stationed at the Dental Clinic.

“She taught me a lot of what I know, and gave me the confidence to go into residency, and assured me that Pediatric Dentistry was really what I enjoyed doing.”

“As a former member of the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, I could not be more proud of these three women, as well as the many GSDM alumni who have served and continue to serve our nation.”

— Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter

“I always felt happier with myself when treating children, and enjoyed my time a little more than with adults,” she remembered.

As the first dentist in her family, Berkowitz didn’t have definitive post-graduation plans. After speaking with classmates who were already in the military, she chose to join the U.S. Navy halfway through dental school. “I kind of looked at it as a step in figuring out what I wanted to do,” she said. While pediatric dentistry may not be a branch of dentistry

Berkowitz remembered.

Berkowitz also spent time on the USNS Mercy, a Naval Hospital ship that provides mobile medical facilities for the U.S. military. During her five-month deployment, she traveled to four different countries—Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Philippines—as part of a humanitarian mission. Berkowitz, along with other dental officers, treated patients who were unable to get proper medical care in their home countries.

After two years in Japan, Berkowitz was accepted to the Advanced Education Program in Pediatric Dentistry (AEP in Pediatric Dentistry) within the U.S. Navy. Because the U.S.

Navy does not offer an AEP in Pediatric Dentistry at their Naval hospitals, she applied for an out-service residency at a civilian hospital. She had to wait a year for a match—during which worked at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for the Navy in Washington D.C.—before moving to New York where she is a resident in Pediatric Dentist at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens.

The hours for a resident are long, and the work intense. Berkowitz starts in the clinic at 8:30 a.m. and often gets out after 6 p.m.

“We see all of the kids that no other dentist wants to manage, behavior wise or health wise,” Berkowitz said. “So it’s a very busy, busy clinic.”

Despite the hard work, however, Berkowitz finds the work rewarding.

“We get these kids the care they need—care they would never get otherwise,” she said. “And the hugs they give you when they hop out of the chair make it all that much better!”

Service-Oriented Solidarity

Captain Promotable Caitlin Reddy usually works on humans— but one day, she found herself working on a patient of the four-legged variety.

“I was able to work on military dogs a couple of times,” she explained. “They have to come in with the Army veterinarians to get a dental exam and get their teeth cleaned. As a periodontist, I was able to check their gums and if the vet had a question about the gums, they could ask me. I was able to clean their teeth, examine their teeth and oral cavity….that

in the Army. Individuals with a background in the medical, dental, legal, or chaplaincy fields are eligible for direct commission. “You’re accepted because of your profession,” Reddy said.

A graduate of Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitative Science, Reddy funded her dental school education with the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which covers the cost of dental school or medical school in exchange for years of service in a branch of the U.S. military.

Reddy has several family members in the Army—her father served as a vascular surgeon in the Army Reserves, her brother attended West Point, and her husband is a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer.

“You’re surrounded by a lot of like-minded, service-oriented people who just want to help soldiers.” — Captain Promotable Caitlin Reddy

was pretty cool.”

A canine exam may be out of the ordinary for Reddy, but as a periodontist in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, she’s used to handling different roles.

Reddy is the sole periodontist at Fort Riley, an Army base in Kansas, serving 15,000 soldiers. She’s also the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Dental Clinic no. 4.

Reddy’s position means she spends half of her time in the clinic, and the other half performing administrative duties related to the clinic.

“One of the interesting things about military medicine or dentistry is that…the higher ranking you become, you often get assigned into the administrative type roles and they put an emphasis on not only developing you as a dentist, but as a leader, in the Army,” she said.

Reddy directly commissioned into the Army prior to the start of her time at GSDM, meaning that she joined as an officer despite not attending a service academy or enlisting

“It’s nice to have family who have been through it, and understand your experiences,” Reddy said. “It’s allowed my brother and I to connect and build an even stronger relationship.”

During her time at GSDM, Reddy decided to specialize in periodontology. After graduating, she attended a nine-week officer basic training course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas before moving to Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, where she completed an Advanced Education Program in Periodontics. In 2017, Reddy and her husband were both stationed at Fort Riley, near Manhattan, Kansas.

Because her patient base is active-duty soldiers, who receive comprehensive health care as part of their service, Reddy is able to address the patients’ needs without worrying about payments.

“We’re able to do, for the most part, what the patient needs,” she explained. “It’s nice being able to treat soldiers, where money and treatment plans aren’t an issue.”

“As a clinician, you always have patients that stick out,” Reddy said. “....They’ve come in with low self-esteem, low confidence, that through kind of a team of care you’re able to provide treatment, give people a great smile and get their selfesteem and confidence back.”

Reddy has found her niche, living and working alongside other members of the Army—she’s close with many of her fellow residents from her time in Georgia, and keeps in touch with Mandell and Berkowitz.

“You’re surrounded by a lot of like-minded, serviceoriented people,” she said, “who just want to help soldiers.”

All in the Family

Like Reddy, Captain Promotable Sara Mandell came from a family with a history of military service—and a history at GSDM. Her brother, grandparents, and aunt served in the military; her father graduated from GSDM in 1975.

Mandell commissioned as a senior in college and attended GSDM under the HPSP, like Reddy. Upon graduating from GSDM, she spent time training in Texas before being stationed at Fort Gordon, alongside Reddy, where she was in charge of the restorative section of the hospital dental clinic.

During her time at Fort Gordon, Mandell took on different responsibilities within the dental clinic, including being the Infection Control Officer, which required her to oversee sterilization.

“Infection control was the biggest eye opener,” Mandell remembered. “You know the basics of how to operate an operatory…but you don’t know the behind the scenes of the sterilization room and the tests that have to be done daily in order to make sure everything’s working properly.

After four years at Fort Gordon, Mandell embarked on a two-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The program involves rotating between specialties and providing comprehensive care to patients.

“We’re given a patient. We do the full workup. We create a treatment plan with our mentors. And then we begin treatment, and we do that under the guidance of the mentor for that specific specialty that the patient needs,” Mandell said.

Like Berkowitz, Mandell also embarked on a mission trip, spending four weeks in West Memphis, Ark., where she and other members of the military offered free dental work.

“People drove from four or five hours away to get free dental work—it was the most popular thing that people came for. It was a very rewarding experience,” she said.

Sacrificing to Serve

As of 2016, women made up just 18 percent of the U.S. military service’s officer corps; of the service’s four components—Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps— the Air Force had the highest percentage of female officers, at 20.6 percent, while the Marine Corps had the lowest (7.5 percent), according to a summary produced by CAN of the Population Representation in the Military Services (PopRep) report released annually by the U.S. Department of Defense. The women interviewed for this story felt the gender imbalance firsthand, but said it has had little to no negative effect on their experience.

During her three years as a resident at Fort Gordon, for example, Reddy was the only woman in her residency program.

“There are many women in the Army, but we still are in the minority,” Reddy said.

“Things were said because I am a woman,” Mandell said, before adding, “You kind of just roll with it—you address it as needed, and then you move on from it.”

Berkowitz said that the opportunities to lead have been empowering. “As a woman, [to get] these opportunities so early in my career—to lead men and women and be a mentor to females who are looking into a career in dentistry…being able to lead them in the right direction has been an amazing opportunity for me.”

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Mandell was nervous about moving away—but she found it easier than anticipated.

“Coming out of school, I was really nervous, moving far away,” Mandell said. “But you make a lot of friends in the military, and I think that the friendships you make are a lot stronger.

“The Army is a very small community, so somebody you know will have a friend wherever you’re going, and that’s how you make your new friends. It’s really exciting to move to different places in the country.”

Berkowitz said that one of the hardest things about military service was being so far away from her family: “I missed weddings and bar mitzvahs and a lot of important family things that I would have loved to been able to go to.”

Reddy echoed Berkowitz’s statement. “You sacrifice time away from family and friends in order to serve and provide care,” she said.

Despite the challenges, however, all three women expressed satisfaction with their choice to serve.

“It’s probably one of the greatest opportunities you’ll ever have, and be proud to have,” Berkowitz said.

Giving Back to a Global Community

GSDM alumni travel internationally to strengthen clinical skills, civic engagement, and cultural competency

By Charis Anderson McCarthy

Grant Gleason DMD 19 didn’t plan on studying for his board exams while riding an un-air-conditioned school bus on bumpy back roads in Africa. But given a choice between studying under ideal conditions and helping to improve the oral healthcare of dozens of Kenyans … well, it wasn’t really a choice at all, according to Gleason.

Gleason first traveled to Africa when he was 17, volunteering for three months at an orphanage in Tanzania.

“When I was leaving, I had a really hard time because what I did during that time felt very minuscule,” Gleason said.

So when he had an opportunity to travel to Kenya as part of a mission trip, he leapt at it—even when he realized that he’d return from the trip just five days before his board exams.

“I knew that I wanted to go back and feel like I was able to make a long-lasting impact,” Gleason said.

In 2006, Christina Thompson DMD 06 became the first GSDM student to travel internationally as part of a school-organized trip. Just 13 years later, about a third of

all fourth-year DMD students at GSDM participate in an international externship each year, giving GSDM the most robust international program of any U.S. dental school.

Students and alumni who have participated often point to the trips as one of the most valuable experiences they had during dental school, and report that the experience both strengthened clinical skills and developed civic engagement and cultural competency.

Currently, GSDM offers international trips to 11 countries through two distinct programs: the International Elective Externship Program, and the International Elective Exchange Program. The former is an opportunity to provide dental care in underdeveloped and impoverished regions of the world; GSDM partners with organizations, based both in the U.S. and internationally, that have experience organizing and sponsoring these trips. Through the latter, students experience different models of dental education and observe how other countries deliver health care. They participate in

classes and on patient rounds, scrub in to observe surgeries, and practice with new technologies, among other learning experiences. Currently, GSDM has signed memorandums of understanding with seven dental schools in six countries. The School’s Office of Global & Population Health manages both programs.

The commitment demonstrated by the School’s students to global service and outreach is central to GSDM’s mission, which states that the School will be “the premier academic dental institution promoting … community service to improve the overall health of the global population.”

Origins of the programs

The international programs began in 2006 when an organization called Northeast Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (NEVOSH) decided they wanted to take a dental student along on a mission trip to Nicaragua. One of the dentists involved in the organization—Dr. Frank Casarella DMD 88—was a GSDM alumnus, so he suggested reaching out to the School to find someone. Christina Thompson was that someone.

The Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine will be the premier academic dental institution promoting excellence in dental education, research, oral health care, and community service to improve the overall health of the global population.

We will provide outstanding service to a diverse group of students, patients, faculty, staff, alumni, and health care professionals within our facilities, our community, and the world.

We will shape the future of the profession through scholarship, creating and disseminating new knowledge, developing and using innovative technologies and educational methodologies, and by promoting critical thinking and lifelong learning.

We will do so in an ethical, supportive environment, consistent with our core values of trust, responsibility, respect, fairness, compassion, excellence, service, and effective communication in synergy with the strategic plan of Boston University.

We will support this mission using responsible financial policies and philanthropy.

At the time, she was in the fourth year of the DMD program, and thought the trip would be a way to volunteer and give back while getting some additional clinical experience.

“I don’t know that I had any expectations, because I didn’t know anything about it other than we were going to provide care for people who needed it,” she said.

That trip turned out to be the first of many, both for Thompson—she’s participated in 12 more mission trips, many of them with NEVOSH—and for GSDM. The mission trips grew organically, and demonstrated to School leadership how valuable the international exposure was for students. That, then, led to discussions about developing an exchange program; these conversations first began during the School’s Applied Strategic Planning, and the first exchange trip occurred in 2013.

Giving back to a global community

Liz Montero MED 07 DMD 11 has always liked volunteering so when she got an email during her third year at GSDM about a mission trip to Mexico, she jumped at the opportunity to participate. As a third year, she saw the mission trip as a way to gain clinical experience while also helping others.

“I was exposed to dentistry [at BU], but not the type of dentistry that had to be done in these mission trips … we just don’t see the rampant decay,” she said. She continued later, “It’s a win-win situation. The local people get the help, but as a student you grow so much.”

Conditions on mission trips bear little resemblance to the bright, orderly patient treatment spaces within the School’s Patient Treatment Centers. While participants on some trips do have access to more traditional treatment spaces, many more are bringing in equipment and supplies and setting up

(Far left) Bakr Amin CAS 10 MED 13 DMD 18 PEDO 20 takes a break with a patient during a mission trip to Eleuthera, a small Island in the Bahamas.

Liz Montero MED 07 DMD 11 (right) works on a patient during her first mission trip to Mexico as a thirdyear predoctoral student.

makeshift patient treatment centers in repurposed classrooms or community centers—and even using pressure cookers as a sterilization unit, as the team in Kenya did.

“The first impression is [that] it’s loud, because you have all these compressors going,” said Bakr Amin CAS 10 MED 13 DMD 18 PEDO 20 of the treatment space during a mission trip to the Bahamas in January 2019. “It’s just a lot of people packed in, it’s hot.”

But participants said delivering care under these conditions —care that meets or exceeds the same standards as in the School’s Patient Treatment Centers or at a private practice— taught them flexibility and adaptability.

“Definitely you’re doing a lot of things you normally wouldn’t do in a regular patient treatment center,” Amin said. “Your lighting isn’t great, you’re bent over in weird ways … [so] you have to adapt really quickly. … You have to be more flexible with your instruments.”

Thompson said that dentists—herself included—tend to be “perfectionists [who] want everything just so.” The mission trips she’s participated on have been good exercises in “learn[ing] how to roll with things when they don’t go as planned,” she said.

“You have to figure out how to adapt and deal with each individual situation to get the outcome you want without having the perfect conditions.”

“You have to figure out how to adapt and deal with each individual situation to get the outcome you want without having the perfect conditions.”

— Christina Thompson DMD 06

Success stories

Limited time, limited resources, and the often advanced decay with which patients present means that success on a mission trip might be extracting just the most painful tooth, and leaving the rest.

“We can’t do [it] all, so … unlike here, where you always take the patient out of pain, there you had to leave patients in pain. … [But] at least I’m making whatever situation they are in better,” Gleason said.

But despite the limitations participants face, there are also true success stories on every trip.

One child who Amin treated in Eleuthera, a small island in the Bahamas with only one dentist for the entire island, presented with two front teeth that had failed to break through his overlying gingiva. Amin and the team completed a small surgery to expose the teeth.

“The look on his face when he actually felt [his teeth] with his tongue for the first time—that was, I think, very good,” Amin continued.

One of the most powerful moments that Gleason experienced in Kenya was empowering local community healthcare workers with the tools and knowledge they would need to teach oral hygiene to local students. Gleason and others on the trip spent a day teaching the healthcare workers, and then those workers spent the following day

teaching a classroom of kids—and “they did a phenomenal job,” Gleason said.

“I loved extracting [teeth], and I learned a lot that way…. but just seeing the actual impact that is going to be created [by training the healthcare workers] is so much more fulfilling,” Gleason said.

Creating global leaders

GSDM’s International Elective Exchange program also sends students abroad each year, promoting intellectual and cultural exchange, and connecting GSDM students with colleagues around the world with whom they can exchange ideas and experiences.

The idea for the exchange program first surfaced during the School’s Applied Strategic Planning, as a way to fulfill both the School and the University’s mission to provide students with a global education. Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter and other School leaders, including Dr. Laisheng Chou, wanted to ensure graduates were prepared to practice in an increasingly globalized world, which meant giving them the necessary experiences and skills.

“Exposure to different cultures, different healthcare delivery systems, different education systems is one way to broaden students’ perspectives so they are better able to critically evaluate systems here in the U.S. and make

changes in their own practice and in policy,” said Dr. Michelle Henshaw, professor of health policy & health services research and associate dean of global & population health.

School leaders decided that international dental schools participating in the program must meet three criteria: be the best dental school in its country or region; allow GSDM students to experience something they would not be exposed to in the U.S.—either educational, clinical, or cultural; and be willing to enter into a true partnership with GSDM.

The first exchange trip—to Shanghai Jiao Tong University College of Stomatology and the Third Affiliated Hospital Airforce Medical University School of Stomatology (formerly the Fourth Military Medical University School of Stomatology) in Xi-an—took place in 2013. Since that first trip, the program has expanded significantly, adding six additional schools in five additional countries.

The International Elective Exchange is a for-credit elective course, open to fourth-year DMD students. Each trip has just four slots available, so students are selected through a rigorous application process: Interested students must first submit a written application in which they explain why they are interested in the program and how their existing extracurricular activities have prepared them for the exchange program; based on the written applications, students are selected for in-person interviews with a five-person

Schools & Countries Participating in the International Elective Exchange Program

China

Peking University School of Stomatalogy

Third Affiliated Hospital Airforce Medical University School of Stomatology

Shanghai Jiao Tong University College of Stomatology

England

University of Manchester School of Dentistry

India

Manipal University College of Dental Sciences

Japan

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

South Korea

Seoul National University School of Dentistry

Thailand

Faculty of Dentistry Chulalongkorn University

committee, which includes Chou and Henshaw. Each person on the committee grades students on the interview using a rubric to assess things like adaptiveness and flexibility, and commitment to the program. After interviews are completed, each committee member’s scores are averaged, and students with the highest average rankings are selected for the program.

Expanding perspective

Scott Jegard DMD 18, who visited the Manipal University College of Dental Sciences in Manipal, India, was struck by how similar dental education was for the students in Manipal. Students there were balancing classes, working with patients, and cycling through rotations in different specialties—just like at GSDM. Students are also committed to community service and outreach—just like at GSDM. (Jegard also participated on a mission trip to Guatemala.)

For Jegard, one of the most memorable moments from the trip was when the group from GSDM went to one of the school’s mobile clinics, which was serving a community located about 100 kilometers from Manipal.

“A lot of these people … don’t have easy access” to dental care, Jegard said. “You just had a good feeling, like we’re actually making a difference.”

For Amin, who participated in the exchange trip to University of Manchester School of Dentistry in Manchester, England, the trip helped give him an additional lens with which he could evaluate what he was learning.

“When we’re in predoctoral, we’re very isolated in terms of what we see, in terms of procedures, materials, the way we operate,” Amin said. “I thought it would be great to see how things are done in other places. … I always like the idea of being able to take some things I like here, some things I like there, and make it my own.”

He continued: “You put 100 people in a room, and everyone is going to do something a little differently, and it’s just like that, but even more so because they have a different training in their country. So [now] we can always pick each other’s brains and hopefully come to a better way of doing things.”

Long-term impact

Research conducted by Gagan Dhaliwal DMD 19, who himself participated on an exchange trip to Manchester, England, and faculty members Matthew Mara DMD 16 AEGD 17 Wheelock 19 and Dr. Michelle Henshaw SPH 96 DPH 07 found that international mission trips enhanced participants’ dental school experience and positively influenced their careers.

Dhaliwal designed a 13-item electronic survey instrument that he then sent to all alumni who graduated in the years between 2006 and 2018 and who had participated on an

“It’s a life experience that you’ll carry with you forever.”

— Scott Jegard DMD 18

international mission trip. All respondents reported that the experience had enhanced their dental educational experience, and 97 percent of respondents were very likely to recommend the international mission trips to a current student.

The results from Dhaliwal et al.’s research align with the anecdotal reports from alumni interviewed for this story.

“I definitely would encourage every student to go on one of these trips,” Gleason said. “I think it will open your eyes, and it will only make you more appreciative as to what we have in North America.”

And the fact that the cost of the trips are subsidized through generous donations to the International Programs Student Travel Fund also helps keep the experience accessible to all students—something that participants said was very important.

“I know if I would have had to pay everything out of pocket, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Montero said.

Jegard agreed that subsidizing the trips through alumni donations helps make these experiences accessible to all students.

He continued later: “I have a picture of Guatemala on my desk at home, and I just think about that [trip] and I think: This is why I’m a dentist. … It’s a life experience that you’ll carry with you forever.”

Alumni Weekend

September 2018

More than a hundred alumni and friends of GSDM returned to Boston in September 2018 for Boston University’s Alumni Weekend. On Friday, September 21, 2018, they flocked to the Four Seasons Hotel Boston for the GSDM’s annual Alumni Reception, filling the Aujourd’hui room with laughter and memories.

The reception, hosted by Dean and Mrs. Jeffrey W. Hutter, kicked off an Alumni Weekend packed with events, including hard-hat tours of the Addition & Renovation Construction project at the main dental school. Representatives from nine classes—1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, and 2013—were back on campus to celebrate reunions and to admire the many changes already wrought by the construction project.

Weekend (continued from page 14)

Alumni Events

Endodontic alumni came together in April 2018 for an alumni reception at the American Association of Endodontists annual meeting, held in Denver, Colorado.

More than 40 members of the

A record number of GSDM alumni, faculty, and friends attended an alumni reception on Friday, October 18, 2018, at the 2018 American Dental Association annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

On Monday, October 29, 2018, more than 30 alumni attended an alumni reception during the 2018 American Academy of Periodontology

Alumni of GSDM’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) and Postgraduate Operative and Esthetic Dentistry (PGOE) programs came together on Friday, November 9, 2018, for an annual alumni dinner and continuing-education course, held in Boston University’s Trustee Ballroom. Gigi Meinecke DMD 88 delivered the CE lecture, presenting on neuromodulation and dermal fillers for facial cosmetics.

There was a record turnout of more than 600 people for GSDM’s annual alumni reception on Friday, February 1, 2019, held as part of the Yankee Dental Congress in Boston, Massachusetts.

Continuing Education: Course Highlights

Less is More: Trends in Minimally Invasive Dentistry

7 CEUs - $495 – Saturday, October 5, 2019 – Jeanette MacLean, DDS, DABPD, FAAPD

Part 1: Be SMART: Improve Your Practice with Silver Diamine Fluoride, Glass Ionomer Cement, and the Hall Technique. Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) is a revolutionary approach to combating caries in a non-invasive manner. Learn the principles of case selection, informed consent, treatment planning, and a clinical protocol for SDF. Find out how offering minimally-invasive options like SDF, SMART, and Hall crowns can attract new patients, improve patient satisfaction, and increase internal marketing and word of mouth referrals to your practice.

Part 2: Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Treatment Options for Enamel Defects. Unsightly congenital enamel defects and acquired white spot lesions can be troublesome for many patients. This course will review three simple and painless options to manage enamel defects. MI Paste, ICON Resin Infiltration, and etch/bleach seal can improve or even completely reverse the appearance of congenital enamel defects and white spot lesions while preserving tooth structure and repairing the patient’s natural enamel.

Digital Technology Implementation in Everyday Clinical Practice: A Guide for Prosthetically Driven

Implant Placement and Restoration

7 CEUs - $595 – Saturday, November 9, 2019 – David Meir Dano, DMD, CAGS, AEG; Ben Miller, DMD, BSc; Matthew Zweig, DMD.

This is a hands-on course. Limited attendance.

Participants will learn about the implant digital workflow from treatment plan through implant placement and final restoration. This CE course provides the knowledge and insight of how to confidently plan and place an implant using CEREC guide 2/3.

In addition, the course provides the knowledge and training to confidently design, mill and deliver custom implant supported restoration. In the course, the participants will review the options for chair-side fabrication of custom implant abutments and screw-retained implant crowns utilizing the CEREC system. The course will cover workflow and material options for restoring implants in your practice. Combined with full hands-on implementation of the knowledge gained, each participant will restore one implant, step by step from start to finish.

Clinical Examination and Imaging of Temporomandibular Disorders: Non-Surgical and Surgical Approaches

14 CEUs - $795 - November 14 & 15, 2019 – Anthony Mecham, DMD; Pelin Karagoz Motro, DDS, MSc, PhD; Radhika Chigurupati, DMD

This is a hands-on course. Limited attendance.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) have been identified as a major cause of non-dental pain in the orofacial region. This course aims to demonstrate how to examine TMJ and associated structures clinically. Also, this course will provide a better understanding of TMD diagnosis and occlusal appliance selection and use in a case based manner.

Neurotoxins and Fillers in Facial Esthetic Surgery

7 CEUs - $495 - September 12, 2019 – Bradford M. Towne, DMD

This course covers didactic training in the cosmetic applications of Botulinum toxin and dermal fillers for dental professionals. This course will give you the knowledge to incorporate cosmetic procedures into your patient’s treatment plans. During this course you will gain valuable insight on the “How To” of this minimally invasive facial rejuvenation for optimal success.

Please see our website for full course offerings: http://www.bu.edu/dental/ce/fall-2019/

GSDM Career Column: Edition III

From AEGD to Prosthodontics: Residency Pursuits Unveiled

The ADEA Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) deadlines run from the middle of May to early February every year for a program start date of July, following the application and interview cycle.

The key is to stay organized EARLY as you are pursuing advanced education. When researching programs, record the following in an excel spreadsheet, word document, or designated notebook for residency pursuits:

❑ Program name and location

❑ Program deadline

❑ Program length

❑ Program focus and descriptive webpages

❑ Research expectations

❑ Number of accepted applicants

❑ Requested 2x2 photo (digital and printed)

❑ Required tests (ADAT, CBSE, GRE, TOEFL, etc.)

❑ Required number of recommendations

❑ Official vs. unofficial transcript requirements

❑ Supplemental application

❑ Match or non-Match

❑ PASS or non-PASS

❑ Stipend- or tuition-based

Questions?

Contact Tina Finnegan, Career Resources Manager gsdmcr@bu.edu

Each of these factors will affect your decisions to pursue the program, interview, and whether you will either accept a nonMatch offer from the program or choose to participate in the Match and rank the program.

Take advantage of the ADEA PASS Search Engine for program contact information, deadlines, and requirements, but crossreference results with the direct program webpages. If you observe discrepancies in the application instructions or requirements from different program sources, reach out to the department directly to confirm the details, but state the pages you consulted and the differences you found.

To submit a professional and strategic application, you will need to craft detailed, reflective, and relevant documents that capture your commitment to advanced education:

❑ Resume: clinical, leadership, community, research success

❑ Personal statement: what will you gain and give back

Visit https://www.adea.org/PASS/2020/ for more information on the new application format and https://www.adea.org/ PASSapp/ for regular updates on deadlines. You may also search the key words “ASDA Post-Graduate Programs” online for general resources on residency pursuits.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY DENTAL CAREER NETWORK GET CONNECTED!

Boston University Dental Career Network (BUDCN) is an online job board that allows GSDM current students, residents, fellows, and alumni to receive customized career resources as well as seek opportunities posted by employers from corporations, private practices, community health centers, and academic institutions.

STUDENTS may use BUDCN to apply for positions and access career guides specific to dental medicine.

ALUMNI & FACULTY may sign up as job seekers or employers for BUDCN.

Access the Boston University Dental Career Network: https://dental-bu-csm.symplicity.com/

EMPLOYERS may register to post positions and review applicant submissions for general dentist and specialist roles.

Student Spotlight: Miguel Moreno

Miguel Moreno is completing his third year at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM), and is scheduled to graduate in May 2020. He is the youngest person in his class—and perhaps the youngest student ever to attend GSDM—and he talked with us in April about his experiences at GSDM.

When did you first know that you wanted to become a dentist?

I knew around the age of 18, after I finished a course called “An Introduction to Dentistry and Lab.” It wasn’t a light-bulb moment, it was more a progressive: This is it. I knew I wanted to work with people in the healthcare field, and I was good with the sciences, but I also had an appreciation for the arts, sociology, and psychology. I think that all those things fit very well within dentistry.

Is it true that you’re the youngest person ever to attend GSDM?

I know I am the youngest in my year. I’m 21, going on 22 in two weeks. I was 19 when I started dental school.

What was it like to start dental school at an age significantly younger than the other students?

My class had a great dynamic, and it felt like they all initially looked out for me a lot. They were protective, if you will.

I think adjusting to the academics was the challenging part. I expected myself to do about the same as my peers, but it wasn’t always attainable or healthy to have that expectation.

I’m sure you’re used to being academically successful, so what was that adjustment like for you?

It was a struggle, and I felt like I learned a lot about myself and developed my emotional maturity and stability a lot during first year. I was saying to myself, “Okay, I’m going to study as much as I can and that’s enough,” and not going back and saying, “Oh, I should have done more.” Because that’s just counterproductive, and it wasn’t healthy. So it was a lot of, “I’m doing my best and that’s it.”

You were pretty young when you figured out what you wanted to do. Do you ever have any uncertainty about this career path?

Initially yes, I was uncertain because of the struggle during first year and the intangible light at the end of the tunnel. But now seeing patients has kind of changed the game for me, because I can truly envision myself as a dentist.

Do you see yourself practicing dentistry for the rest of your career?

Because I will finish so young, I have contemplated exploring another career at some point. During undergrad, I was very passionate about sociology and human rights issues, so I think if I were to pursue another career, it would probably be as an advocate for LGBT rights.

I know you still have a year left of dental school, but do you have post-graduation plans yet?

Once I graduate, I will be a second lieutenant within the Air Force, completing an AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) program and working as a provider. This is through a scholarship program known as the Health Professions Scholarship Program, or HPSP. Although it is a three-year contract, I might stay longer, depending on how I feel within the environment. Wherever I have gone before, like during undergrad, and now at GSDM, I’ve always kind of shined my little light in terms of LGBT advocacy, and I feel like I could carry that through the Air Force in some way.

Campus Highlights

New Patient & Visitor entrance opens, completes Phase I of construction It was a momentous return from Intersession for GSDM, which officially opened its new Patient & Visitor entrance as of 6:30 a.m. on January 2, 2019. The new entrance is located at 635 Albany Street, which will be the school’s new official address. The opening of the new entrance was an important milestone in the School’s addition and renovation construction project, and marked the near completion of the project’s first phase. The dental school’s East Newton Street entrance closed as of January 1, 2019, but will be renovated and reopened as the entrance for faculty, staff, students, and residents in early 2020.

“After months of hard work and dedication, it’s incredibly exciting to bring the first phase of the project ‘online,’” said GSDM Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “I am grateful for the support, patience, and flexibility that the GSDM community—and indeed, the entire Boston University Medical Campus —demonstrates every day amid this exciting, but at times disruptive, construction process.”

Topping Off ceremony

The GSDM community celebrated the “topping off” of the School’s Addition and Renovation Construction Project on March 29, 2019. Despite wet, drizzly weather, a crowd of about 100 gathered outside the school to watch as a crane hoisted a large steel beam—painted white, covered in signatures, and adorned with an evergreen tree and an American flag—into the air and placed it onto the existing steel skeleton.

A “Topping Off” ceremony celebrates the placement of a structure’s uppermost steel beam and dates back 1,000 years to ancient Scandinavia, when Viking chieftains would hoist an evergreen tree atop a newly finished

building to celebrate its completion and appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced during construction. In present day, ironworkers have carried on the tradition, as iron and steel have replaced timber as primary building materials for most buildings.

In the days leading up to the ceremony, members of the GSDM community as well as others who have played important roles in the construction were invited to sign the beam so that, according to Dean Hutter, “a small piece of each [of you] will be carried into the future of the new building.”

GSDM students showcase skills at international contest

Three predoctoral students from GSDM were among the 36 competitors at the Skills Contest for International Dental Students, which was held in Shanghai, China, in November 2018. The contest, which was a friendly competition with no official rankings or scores, was an opportunity for students from 12 dental schools around the globe to

come together to learn from and with each other. Participants in the contest were asked to demonstrate dental skills in three core areas—endodontics, prosthodontics, and oral surgery—and to demonstrate basic life support for adults.

Steve Brand, Molly Conlon, and Marti Gabriella, all DMD 19, represented GSDM at the event, and were joined by Dr. Carl McManama as a faculty advisor.

The contest was born out of a summit of top international dental schools, of which GSDM is a leading member. The summit provided an opportunity for deans and other leading faculty to learn from each other—but members of the summit also wanted to bring their students together. While 2018 was the first year the event was held, members of the summit hope to make it an annual event.

“One of the things I realized is that dentists all over the world are very similar, and they’re all great: They’re all

people who are really dedicated and hard-working,” McManama said. “I feel really positive about the global future of dentistry.”

Seoul National University School of Dentistry joins student exchange program

Starting in 2020, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) students will be able to take part in an international student exchange externship program at the Seoul National University School of Dentistry (SNUSD) in Seoul, South Korea. Dean Hutter and SNUSD Dean JungSuk Han signed a Memorandum of Understanding on February 7, 2019, to formalize the partnership between the two schools; the signing ceremony was held in Seoul, Korea.

The inaugural exchange of students will take place during the 2019-2020 school year. At SNUSD, GSDM students will conduct clinical observations with a focus on interdisciplinary dentistry and inter-professional patient care. At GSDM, SNUSD participants will choose between clinical observation or research, and will receive a faculty mentor during their time at GSDM. The exchange will also provide an opportunity for students and accompanying faculty of the two schools to share their respective cultures, as well as to explore the cities of Seoul and Boston.

Two GSDM predoctoral students receive award, scholarship at Yankee Dental Congress

Two fourth-year predoctoral students received special recognition during the Yankee Dental Congress, held in Boston, Massachusetts, from January 31-February 2, 2019.

Christine Chiao DMD 19 received the Senior Dental Award from the American College of Dentists in recognition of her outstanding achievements in academics, leadership, and initiative.

Chiao was one of five New England dental students to receive the award.

Jessica Collins DMD 19 was presented with the Mathew Boylan Scholarship on February 2, 2019. Collins was one of three New England dental students to receive the scholarship, which was established by the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) and Eastern Dentists Insurance Company in memory of former MDS Executive Director Matthew Boylan. The scholarship is granted to a student or students who have provided distinguished service to organized dentistry and the community.

GSDM students and residents make strong research showing at Yankee Dental Congress

Seven of GSDM’s predoctoral students and postdoctoral residents were among 24 finalists selected by the Yankee Poster Session Committee to present their research during the Student Poster Session at the Yankee Dental Congress on February 2, 2019. The students and residents presented research in one of three categories: predoctoral students; postdoctoral residents; and dental hygiene students. GSDM resident Abdelrouf Suwid PERIO 12 DSc 19 won for the postdoctoral category. The other students and residents that presented included: Bushra Aljahdali PERIO 21; Mohammed Moeeduddin Ahmed PROS 22; Mohammad Mourad DMD 19; Taylor Paek CAS 20 DMD 20; Hillary Sawyer PERIO 20; and Abeer Tashkandi PGOE 20.

GSDM intramural hockey team wins 2018 championship

GSDM’s intramural hockey team—the “Jawbreakers”—overcame injuries and competing commitments to win the 2018 Boston University Intramural Championship, which was played on October 31, 2018. The win marked the team’s second championship in six years.

The team started the season with 22 players, including students from all four DMD classes, a resident, two staff members, a faculty member, and a representative from the School of Public Health. Unfortunately, injuries and other commitments chipped away at the lineup, leaving the Jawbreakers with just 12 players on the bench and an average of six players who played each game. Despite this “short bench,” the Jawbreakers made it into the playoff round and then the championship game. Nine members of the Jawbreakers skated to win the Championship: Bart Knowles MED 15 DMD 19, Nelson Carpenier DMD 21, Chris Treon DMD 19, Matthew Kiernan DMD 22, Sheldon Itzkowitz PERIO 92 AEGD 94 (faculty), Austin Burkett DMD 22, Matthew Larson (SPH), and Andy Burke (staff).

Several longtime faculty and staff members retire

The 2018-2019 academic year saw the retirement of several longtime faculty and staff members. Dr. David Gabelman, clinical assistant professor of general dentistry, retired in January 2019 after 18 years of service to the

School. Most recently, he served as a group practice leader. Dr. Ted Engel, clinical assistant professor of general dentistry, also retired in January 2019; Dr. Engel first joined GSDM in 1994. Mike Haddad, who was a dental technologist at GSDM, retired in January 2019 after 29 years of service. He was first hired as the lead ceramist for the postdoctoral prosthodontic program, and most recently, helped implement the use of digital technologies in the fabrication of restorations in his lab. In December 2018, Wendy Cheney DMD 99, clinical professor of pediatric dentistry and director of the Advanced Specialty Education Program in pediatric dentistry, retired after more than 27 years of service to both GSDM and Franciscan Children’s Hospital. During her tenure, Dr. Cheney mentored more than 250 pediatric dentistry graduates. Finally, Mary Ellen Sholes MET 78 retired in September 2018 after 45 years of service to GSDM as a dental radiology technologist, among other positions. All of the aforementioned will be missed by students, residents and colleagues.

Faculty Q&A: A Chat with Dr. Kenneth Drizen

Dr. Kenneth Drizen, clinical professor of orthodontics & dentofacial orthopedics, celebrated his 50th anniversary as a GSDM faculty member on April 1, 2019. We talked to him about his experiences at GDSM and why teaching is such an important part of his life.

Why did you want to teach?

Generally, dental students are taught by what I would call the “whiplash method,” where somebody says it, you accept it, and that’s the end of the story. I never could imagine why people did that. [When I first started teaching] at Temple Dental School, I treated the dental students with respect and as equals. I got a good feeling with it, and so when I decided to go into orthodontics, I knew I was not going to just practice. I was going to teach and practice.

What’s your favorite thing about teaching?

The best thing about teaching is the interpersonal relationships that you form with the residents. I can see residents from 45 years ago, and it’s like yesterday. You never lose that. So that’s the best thing.

What was the dental school like back in 1969?

Well, first of all, the dental school did not exist back in 1969. The Boston University School of Graduate Dentistry

“Teaching makes you practice better, and practicing makes you teach better.”

Have you enjoyed balancing teaching and practicing?

Teaching makes you practice better, and practicing makes you teach better. You can’t just practice and not be challenged on a daily basis about what you do, and you just can’t teach. You can’t just talk the talk: You have to walk the walk.

was at the Talbot Building. The Orthodontic Department was on the fourth floor, and there was a rickety old elevator that held about five people. I watched the dental school being built from that venue; the dental school opened up [in its current location] in the fall of 1969.

How has the student body changed since you first started teaching?

There are more female residents, and there are more international residents. Having more diversity among residents, I think it enriches the program. It certainly enriches my life. That’s one of the reasons that I love it so much. You learn about other cultures, and learn from the different perspectives people have.

What makes the GSDM community so special to you?

The primary community for me is the orthodontic residents and the family that we create by being together. But orthodontics interacts with the other departments through interdisciplinary treatment. So, for example, when I first came, I taught the pediatric dentistry and periodontic residents orthodontics, and worked with the periodontic residents through interdisciplinary treatment between orthodontics and periodontics. That to me was unbelievable. What an interchange of ideas from all the different specialties coming together to form a treatment plan for an individual patient! It’s very special.

So you’ve celebrated 50 years—what comes next?

Well my plan is, as long as I have my brain and physical capabilities, I’m going to continue to come here. I’ve taught 27 residents whose parents I also taught. If I could do it, I would love to teach a grandchild. That’s what I’d really love to do: I’d like to teach the grandparent, the parent, and the grandchild.

Commencement 2018

To cheers and applause, almost 300 predoctoral students, postdoctoral residents, and postgraduate students walked across the stage on May 18, 2018, at the university’s Track and Tennis Center to receive their degrees and certificates from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine during the school’s 2018 commencement convocation ceremony. The day’s celebration capped years of hard work by students and residents, and a crowd of hundreds of family members and friends gathered to applaud their accomplishments.

The Class of 2018 was represented during the ceremony by its valedictorians, Lauren Liebman DMD 18 and Maulikkumar Patel DMD AS 18, and its class presidents, Sloane Kaminski-Ditzel DMD 18 and Khushbu Malhotra DMD AS 18. Additionally, Alicia Tavares DMD 18 performed the National Anthem at the beginning of the commencement convocation ceremony.

The Spencer N. Frankl Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented to Hesham Nouh DSc 12 PROS 15 and Dr. Monica Pessina. Gigi Meinecke DMD 88 delivered the commencement convocation keynote address.

GSDM Through the Generations

1 Mishali Alsharief PERIO 14 DPH 18 presented by his wife, Manal Saadoun AEGD 11 ENDO 14

2 Pouya Amiri-Hezaveh DMD 18 presented by his mother, Mojgan Rahimi DMD 98

3 Arifa Bakerywala DMD 18 presented by her husband, Ashish Agarwal DMD 17

4 Nicolas Brombal PROS 18 presented by his father, Alain Brombal PROS 86

5 Stephanie Brooks DMD 18 presented by her father, Howard Brooks DMD 87

6 Jaehyuk Choi DMD 18 presented by his fiancée, Jai Hyun Nam DMD 17

7 Mira Daljeet DMD 18 presented by her sister, Nadia Daljeet DMD 13, and brother, Nikhil Daljeet DMD 15

8 Ana De Feria DMD 18 presented by her husband, Jose Abrahantes DMD 17

9 Christine El Masri DMD 18 presented by her brothers, Eric El Masri DMD 15 and Marc El Masri DMD 11 AEGD 12

10 Ayinkeran Gunarajasingam DMD 18 presented by his cousin, Entela Cika DMD 14

11 Duwaraka Gunarajasingam DMD 18 presented by her mother, Jeyasri Gunarajasingam DMD 88

12 Khushbu Malhotra DMD 18 presented by her husband, Sumeet Malhotra DMD 10

13 Nikhil Malhan DMD 18 presented by his uncle, Naveen Verma DMD 04

14 Daniel Moynihan DMD 15 ORTHO 18 presented by his father, Michael Moynihan DMD 96 ORTHO 00

15 Katherine Moynihan DMD 18 presented by her father, Michael Moynihan DMD 96 ORTHO 00

16 Michael Nardi DMD 18 presented by his brother, Paul Nardi DMD 13

17 Shreyas Rana DMD 18 presented by his sister, Hetal Rana DMD 14

18 Azadeh Sajjadi DMD 18 presented by her husband, Farshad Pezeshki DMD 02 AEGD 03

19 Hirwa Shah DMD 18 presented by her husband, Rohan Shah DMD 17

20 Joyce Sun ENDO 18 presented by her father, Arthur Sun PROS 82 DMD 84

21 Kantidara Tjiang DMD 18 presented by her husband, Bo Chao Wang DMD 17

22 Jinal Vora DMD 18 presented by her husband, Aditya Mehta DMD 16

Orientation 2018

More than 200 members of the DMD Class of 2022 and the DMD Advanced Standing Class of 2020 descended on the Boston University Medical Campus during the last two weeks of July 2018 for their orientation. Days were packed with presentations from key administration officials, ice cream socials and other get-to-know-each-other events, campus tours, and the all-important scrub fitting. One of the most important events of the two-week orientation was the Predoctoral Professional Ceremony, held on July 27, 2018, which welcomed the new dental students into the profession. At the event, they received their official Boston University pins and were “pinned” by Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. Dr. Karen Antman, provost of the Boston University Medical Campus and dean of the university’s School of Medicine, also participated in the ceremony, shaking the hand of each student. Dr. Judith Fisch, District 1 trustee for the American Dental Association Board of Trustees, delivered the ceremony’s keynote address.

White Coat 2018

Hundreds of friends and family members packed into Metcalf Hall at the George Sherman Union on July 7, 2018, to witness the members of the DMD Class of 2020 and the DMD Advanced Standing Class of 2019 receive their white coats as part of the annual White Coat Ceremony. The event marks the midway point of dental students’ education and celebrates their transition from the classroom to the Patient Treatment Center. Dr. Jeffrey Cole, then president-elect of the American Dental Association, delivered the keynote address during the ceremony.

RICH KONYS DMD 84, OMFS 88

Oral Surgeon, Painter, Donor

by Frances B. King

Rich Konys didn’t see a dentist until he was in the fifth grade—pretty ironic for this successful oral surgeon, GSDM graduate, and newest member of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine’s Dean’s Advisory Board.

“By the time I finally did get some dental care, my mouth was a mess,” he remembered. “I spent most of my fifth and sixth grade years in Syracuse, New York going to the dentist monthly for restorative work. Later, the new dentist we saw was incredible: European-trained, painless, cutting-edge in everything he did. It was inspiring.”

Meanwhile, Konys was a young man obsessed with art, not science. But his father (a physician) and mother (a nurse) thought art was impractical, so Konys enrolled at Union College in Albany, New York as a biology major. “And the first day there, I switched to art!” he said. Eventually, he combined art and biology into a double major.

And he still saw his cutting-edge dentist, who became a mentor: “I actually knew pretty early that I wanted to be a dentist, because of this guy.”

Konys began classes at the Goldman School in 1980, which he chose in part because of GSDM’s smaller size.

“The School was still relatively new then, and a lot of the professors had already had teaching experience at other prestigious institutions,” he said. “So what we had was a school of dental medicine that was rich with academic and clinical expertise.”

Shortly after starting dental school, Konys met his wife Caren, who was pursuing a master’s degree in dental public health at the School. “Pure happenstance,” he said. “We met at a beach. I saw that she had a book on biostatistics and I offered to help her—without telling her that I had hated the topic and had barely passed the class. She must have felt sorry for me. The rest is history.” After she graduated from GSDM, Caren, who had practiced as a dental hygienist earlier in her career, went to work on the Massachusetts Dental Project.

Konys said he was a “decent” student in the clinic, but “distracted” in the classroom. “I loved the clinical stuff,” he said. “I loved working on patients. I loved talking to people. I loved doing all that. I couldn’t stand the academic stuff.”

Also, he added, “I was terrified of Don Booth.”

At the time, Dr. Booth was a professor and chair of the School’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. (Booth retired in 2008 after 38 years at GSDM with the title of Chair emeritus, Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.)

“I’d watch the residents sweat out their interactions with

Dr. Booth, afraid to open my own mouth,” Konys said. “The thing was, he was a quiet, cerebral kind of guy, which probably intimidated his students, but as I later learned when we became friends, he was also pretty funny.”

Still, Konys put off his own rotation in oral surgery until the last possible moment—and then surprised himself by loving it. Also, thanks to Dr. Booth, he joined the GSDM oral surgery residency program. “He gave me a chance, and that got me into the profession that was my passion,” said Konys, who served his four-year residency at Boston City Hospital.

After finishing his training in 1988, Konys returned to Syracuse to establish a private practice, which he has enjoyed for more than 30 years.

And he has never forgotten the influence of Dr. Booth. Rich and Caren Konys have now made a gift of $100,000 to the OMFS department in Dr. Booth’s honor. “When you’re young, you’re sure you don’t need anyone,” Konys said. “You can do it all yourself. But when you get old enough, you realize that there were important people along the way who helped get you to where you are. Don Booth is one of those people for me and for many.”

Dr. Booth was far from the only positive influence Konys encountered during his years at GSDM.

“GSDM gives each and every one of us the tools that we need to be successful in a well-respected field,” Konys said. “In turn, that education assures a quality of life that not many others can share. So at the end of the day, giving back to the institution that made it all happen really isn’t that hard to do.”

SAM COFFIN DMD 78 & DEBORAH COPPA

A Fifty-Year Milestone, and a Gift for GSDM

by Frances B. King

Sam Coffin’s connection to Boston University dates back

more than 50 years, to when he enrolled at the University’s College of Arts and Sciences as an undergraduate in 1969. He and his wife, Deborah Coppa, are celebrating the milestone with a generous gift to the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM).

Coffin remembers being at GSDM one day in 2017 for a meeting, when he decided to see if he could find the patient treatment room—what was once called an “operatory”— where he had trained as a predoctoral student. It was still there, and it stayed in the back of his mind. Then came his 40th class reunion at GSDM in 2018, and a seed-planting conversation with a fellow alum about the School’s Addition & Renovation Construction project.

Coffin and Coppa went home, talked it over, and decided that their gift celebrating Coffin’s half-century of BU connections would be a new patient treatment room at GSDM: “Fifty years since [enrolling at Boston University] and 40 since my graduation from GSDM. What could be better?”

Coffin is a triple Terrier: He graduated from the University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1973, with a double major in biology and psychology, the Goldman School in 1978 (DMD), and the Questrom School in 1985. “Choosing GSDM turned out to be the right decision for me, even though it was still a pretty new school then,” Coffin said. “I became convinced that going to a smaller school that was innovative was a good choice.”

After receiving his DMD from GSDM, Coffin did a twoyear residency at the West Roxbury VA Hospital and then went into private practice for a few years. “I was at that point where I had to either buy into the private practice or think about moving on,” he remembered. “I also wanted to finish my MBA.” The VA beckoned again, and he took the plunge, while keeping up his business studies. “The VA provided an eightto-five job with benefits and weekends off, and a better salary than I was making. I told the VA I’d stay a few years. I stayed for 30!”

At the VA, working as a hospital-based general dentist, he focused on treating service-connected disabled veterans with multiple medical and psychiatric comorbidities. He also taught general practice and periodontics residents, as well as fourthyear dental students on the VA dental service. He maintains an abiding interest in veterans’ health care and continues at the VA as a faculty advisor to the VA Boston Health Care System Dental Service General Practice Residency.

Along the way, Coffin met Deborah Coppa, a Virginian (she was in the first class of women admitted to the University of Virginia) who first worked for her hometown congressman, and later became a Congressional staffer before joining the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, first in Washington D.C. and then in Boston. Her work centered on enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, medical interpreter services, and community outreach. Now retired, she has taken a lifelong passion for reading into a new realm, serving as an active volunteer librarian in Newton, at the Waban Library Center. “During the recession, they closed all the branch libraries in Newton,” she said. “But thanks to grants and fund-raising efforts, a community group re-opened a small historic building in the neighborhood, and we’ve kept it running for 10 years as a community library.”

Coffin and Coppa were married in Marsh Chapel at Boston University and have one son, Peter, a social media marketing specialist.

Coffin is now retired, but continues as a senior tutor and instructor in restorative dentistry and biomaterials sciences at the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine. He maintains an abiding interest in veterans’ health care and continues at the VA as a faculty advisor to the VA Boston Health Care System Dental Service General Practice Residency.

CLASS NOTES

1 Tadros Tadros ENDO 17 and Grace Hannawi DMD 17 PEDO 19 on July 21, 2018 St. Mary & St. Mena Coptic in Cranston, RI & Blue Hill Country Club, Canton MA.

2 Mikaella Jaclyn born November 10, 2018 to Matt Caceci DMD 17 and Jacyln Cacecci. Sister Gia Elizabeth, and twin brothers Vincent Paul and Anthony Matthew.

3 Marissa Kobewka DMD 15 married Drew Czernick PERIO 14 MSD 14 in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia on September 1, 2018.

4 Melissa Morrision DMD 17 and Paritosh Amburle DMD 12 ENDO 15 married on September 1, 2018 in Toronto, ON.

5 Nikhil Whig DMD 15 and Jasmine Chopra DMD 15 welcomed Aariv Whig born on October 24, 2018.

6 Andrew Mancini DMD 15 and Kira Mancini welcomed baby girl Aurora Marie Mancini on 1/18/2019 at 8 lbs 4 oz.

7 Daniella Rizzo DMD 16 married Sal Intagliata on New Year’s Eve 2018 at St. Paul Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

8 Cara Seidel DMD 15 and Szymon Wolanczyke welcomed baby girl Celine Monroe Wolanczyke on 1/20/2019 at 7lb 1 oz and 20 inches.

9 Congratulations to Hwang Jun Hyuk DMD 12 from Q & M Dental Group for winning the Invisalign Diamond Provider award in Singapore.

10 Sara Saremi DMD 15 and Adrian De Vincenzo DMD 15 were married in Dallas, Texas, in May 2018 (other guests in photo: Amrita Sandhu DMD 15: Marissa Kobewka, DMD 15: Christopher Chan, DMD 15; Cara Seidel, DMD 15).

11 Luri Lee DMD 16 married Dan Mercurio on August 4, 2019 at the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston.

12 Mike Mayr DMD 16 married Jonathan Glass on November 10, 2018 in Somerville, MA at Warehouse XI. Photo left to right: Heather Keeling GMS 11, Ben Cooperman DMD 15, Joseph Calabrese DMD 91 AEGD 92, Jessica Metcalfe DMD 15, Mike Mayr and husband Jonathon Gass, Joe Deschene DMD 16, Jae Kwak DMD 16 and Alex Nguyen DMD 17.

13 Bajeet Kaur DMD AS 18 welcomed baby boy Veer Singh in April 2018.

14 Charles Lewis DMD 18 was commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps and reported to Fort Sam Houston for Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) in early June 2018. He is currently a resident at the Fort Sill 1-Year AEGD. (Lewis is standing on right.)

15 Amit Patel DMD 12 and Heather Patel welcomed baby boy Aiden on December 6, 2018.

16 Alan Young DMD 79 has run all 26 Disney marathons, including the only marathon ever held at Disneyland. Dr. Young is pictured with his wife, also an avid runner.

17 Niusha Nikkholgh DMD 17 ENDO 20 and Mani Moulazadeh DMD 00 AEGD 01 ENDO 03 welcomed baby Aryana Moulazadeh, born on February 13, 2019.

18 Simon Flikier PROS 03 married Karolina Araya on January 27, 2019, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

19 Courtney Brady DMD 11 and her husband, Matthew welcome their son Daxton in October 2018.

20 Bruce Seidberg ENDO 67 in the fall of 2018 was elected Secretary for the American Association of Dental Boards at the recent AADB meeting. He is a past president of the American College of Legal Medicine and of the Onondaga County (NYS) Dental Association.

21 Nicholas Koren DMD 15 AEGD 16 married Debbie Lay SPH 12 MED 12 on September 22, 2018, in Boston.

22 Krizia Proia DMD 17 and Ashish Papneja DMD 15 married on June 21, 2018, in Toronto, ON.

2019 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Special Smiles

June 8, 2019

Cambridge, MA

Boston University Italian Symposium

June 28-29, 2019

Rome, Italy

White Coat Ceremony

July 6, 2019

Boston, MA

ADA Annual Meeting

September 4-9, 2019

San Francisco, CA

AAOMS Alumni Dinner

September 19, 2019 Boston, MA

Alumni Weekend

September 20-23, 2019 Boston, MA

Endo Alumni Fall Meeting

October 2-6, 2019 Burlington, VT

Head & Neck Cancer Symposium

October 11, 2019 Boston, MA

AEGD Alumni Dinner

November 8, 2019

Boston, MA

Campaign Donors

(as of 4/26/2019)

The Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine gratefully recognizes individuals who have given $10,000 or more, cumulatively, over the life of the Campaign for Boston University.

$2,500,000–$5,000,000

Anonymous

Anonymous

Oreste D. Zanni ∞

$500,000–$2,500,000

Anonymous

Donald Booth ▲

$100,000–$499,999

Hussam M. Batal DMD 98 OMFS 03

Radhika Chigurupati

Richard D’Innocenzo

Jeyasri Gunarajasingam DMD 88 and Ponnudurai Gunarajasingam

Robert L. Ibsen ∞

Richard Konys DMD 84 OMFS 88 and Caren Konys DPH 82 ▲

Jonathan B. Levine DMD 81 ▲

David Lustbader DMD 86 CAS 86 and Wendy Lustbader SAR 83 SAR 84 ▲

Pushkar Mehra OMFS 95

Mina Paul SPH 97 and Ajay Saini Questrom 82 ▲

Uday Reebye DMD 98 ▲

Andrew Salama

Samuel Shames and Honey Shames

$50,000–$99,999

Thomas L. Chou ORTHO 88

Timothy S. Colton

Raymond George ORTHO 66 ∞

John Guarente DMD 89 and Barbara Guarente

Katherine A. Haltom DMD 79 OMFS 82

Hikmat Hannawi DMD 99

Judith Jones DPH 00 DSc 02 and Michael P. Fitzmaurice CAS 73 Wheelock 77 ∞

Burton Langer PERIO 66 and Laureen Langer

Ernesto Muller PERIO 61

Ramesh Narang OMFS 68 DSc70

Timothy Osborn

Estate of Ruth B. Pearson

$25,000–$49,999

Chandan Advani DMD 04 and Kulwinder Advani •

Adela Agolli Tarshi DMD 08 AEGD 09 ENDO 12 and Michael Tarshi

Anonymous

Tim Auger DMD 91 and Meghan Auger DMD 91

Evis Babo DMD 01 and Stephen Weizenecker

Alexander Bendayan PROS 05 and Rebika Shaw-Bendayan

Manish Bhagania

Ishwar Bhatia

Nazila Bidabadi CAS 82 DMD 87 and Alireza Hakimi ENG 82 ENG 86 •

BU Orthodontic Alumni Association

Daniel S. Budasoff PROS 80 and Barbara Budasoff

Joseph M. Calabrese DMD 91 AEGD 92 and Michelle Calabrese SSW 93

Steven Caldroney

Gennaro Cataldo

Vincent Celenza PROS 79 and Christine Celenza

(continued on page 42)

∞ Deceased

▲ Dean’s Advisory Board

• Alumni Board

Campaign Donors (continued)

Pelly Chang

Peng Cheng DMD 10

Sudha S. Chinta ENDO 09 ▲

Christopher Clancy OMFS 01

Samuel Coffin CAS 73 DMD 78 Questrom 85 and Deborah Coppa

Shadi Daher DMD 90 OMFS 94 and Milagros Serrano ▲

Larry Dunham DMD 83 and Lynn Dunham MET 81

Maged El-Malecki DMD 02

Margaret R. Errante and Mark Crotwell

Ruben Figueroa

Neal Fleisher DMD 84 PERIO 86 and Peggy Fleisher

Michael Furia DMD 95 and Flor Furia

Raul I. Garcia and Linnea W. Garcia

Mareen George DMD 01 and Sanjay Mathew

Jasjit S. Gill DMD 96 OMFS 00

Russell A. Giordano

Camila Guiri Guiribitey DMD 21 and Juan Carlos Izquierdo DMD 21

Michelle Henshaw SPH 96 DPH 07and Cliff Marble

Zhiqiang Huang DMD 08

Yanling Jiang DSc 91 DMD 95 ENDO 99 and Tao Xu DSc 90 DMD 95

Michael Jory DMD 96 and Rhonda Jory

Suneel Kandru ENDO 07 and Santhi Kilaru

Thomas Kilgore and Colleen Kilgore

Puneet Kochhar DMD 03 and Shweta Kochhar •

Celeste V. Kong PROS 84 DMD 87

Nanarao Krothapalli DMD 04 and Padmaja Krothapalli PERIO 10 DMD 08

Maria A. Kukuruzinska

David Lee DMD 98 and Susan Lee

Cataldo Leone and Rosemary Leone

Xiaojing Li DSc 03 DMD 07 and

Jungmee Youn Dsc 06 PERIO 06 DMD 08

Bing Liu DSc 99 DMD 03 and Hong Dong • Hongsheng Liu DMD 10 ENDO 12 • and Min Zhu PhD 12 DMD 17 •

Khushbu Malhotra DMD 18 and Sumeet Malhotra DMD 10

Madalyn Mann DPH 76 and Robert Goldszer Questrom 99 ▲

Tim McDonough and Pam McDonough ▲

Gigi Meinecke DMD 88 and Douglas Meinecke GRS 87 •

Robert Miller DMD 84 PERIO 86 and Sharon Miller •

Robert Moskal DMD 95 and Suzanne Moskal

Resmi Nair DMD 01 and Prajeet Nair

Azita Negahban DMD 94 AEGD 04

Sepideh Novid DMD 04 AEGD 05 and Aria Tavana •

Frank Oppenheim PERIO 76 DMD 79

Debra Pan DMD 01 DPH 86 and Nelson Pan

Steven Perlman PEDO 76 and Harriet Perlman

Loubna Pla ENDO 08 and Philippe Pla •

Madhuri Punaty DMD 01

Richard D. Rabbett III MET 10

Sean Rayment DMD 97 DSc 00 and Daphne Rayment ▲ •

Richard Rosen and Rosa Calcano DMD 96

David Russell and Sharin Russell

Mitchell Sabbagh DMD 87 and Kelly Sabbagh

Doug Schildhaus DMD 91 PEDO 93

Ronni A. Schnell DMD 81 and Richard A. Short CAS 76 DMD 82

Amit Sethi

Amir Shahbazian DMD 88 and Shahrzad Shahbazian DMD 96

Ali Basha Shaik DMD 15

Maryam Shomali CAS 87 ENDO 93 and Bahram Shomali •

Jeanne C. Sinkford ▲

Mingfang Su DMD 91

Tadeu Szpoganicz DMD 11 and Valeria Papa Szpoganicz •

Cheryl L. Ullman ENDO 80

Tina Valades Tullberg DMD 84 and Ralph Tullberg

Naveen Verma DMD 04 and Monica Verma •

Ronald G. Weissman PROS 77

James Wu OMFS 97

$10,000–$24,999

Craig M. Allen DMD 95

Anonymous

Philip S. Badalamenti ORTHO 80

Alan J. Berko ORTHO 91

Abdulelah M. Binmahfooz PROS 13

Howard Bittner ENDO 95

Eric W. Bludau ENDO 04

BU Endodontic Alumni Association

BU Italian Alumni Club

David G. Burros ENDO 93

Christopher Douville ENDO 00

Kenneth B. Drizen

Ray English DMD 83

Ernestine A. Gianelly

Anita Gohel and Raj Gohel

William Gordon CAS 84 DMD 88 ORTHO 90 •

Andre F. Hashem PROS 90 DMD 92 and Christine Lo PROS 92 DMD 95

Ralph D. Hawkins ENDO 89

John R. Hughes ENDO 83

Geri R. Hunter ORTHO 92

Dean Jeffrey W. and Kathy Hutter

Sok-Ja Janket

Daniel C. Jeong OMFS 09

Leslie A. Will Kuo

Iman S. Labib DMD 96 ENDO 01

Charles T. Loo ENDO 84

Ahmed A. Macki DMD 99 AEGD 00 PROS 06 and Gregorio P. Sena Buonaiuto PROS 05

Joseph Mills DMD 79

Peter A. Morgan ENDO 75

Richard P. Mungo DMD 75

Peter T. Ngo DMD 06

Casey V. Pedro DMD 03 •

Jamily F. Pedro DMD 11 •

Janet R. Peters

Albert M. Price PERIO 74

Stephen J. Reichheld ORTHO 89

Leila J. Rosenthal

Angela V. Ross DMD 84

Tanios M. Rubeiz OMFS 02

Frank E. Schiano DMD 06 AEGD 07 ORTHO 18

John P. Smith ENDO 97

Shervin Tabeshfar AEGD 10 PROS 14 •

Yousri Z. Said Tawfik PERIO 76

John D. West ENDO 75

Hideo Yamamoto PROS 90 DMD 92

Donald C. Yu ENDO 81 •

Carol K. Yun ENDO 81

Jonathan S. Zucker DMD 84

Named Spaces

(As of April 2019)

Student Resident Lounge

David Lustbader DMD 86 CAS 86 and Wendy Lustbader SAR 83 SAR 84

Conference Room

Jeyasri Gunarajasingam DMD 88 and Ponnudurai Gunarajasingam

Admissions Conference Room

Mina Paul SPH 97 and Ajay Saini Questrom 82

Café

Samuel Shames and Honey Shames

Collaborative Space

Judith Jones DPH 00 DSc 02 and Michael P. Fitzmaurice CAS 73 Wheelock 77

Patient Treatment Room Donors

Anonymous

Adela Agolli Tarshi DMD 08 AEGD 09 ENDO 12 and Michael Tarshi

Chandan Advani DMD 04 and Kulwinder Advani

Tim Auger DMD 91 and Meghan Auger DMD 91

Evis Babo DMD 01 and Stephen Weizenecker

Alexander Bendayan PROS 05 and Rebika Shaw-Bendayan

Nazila Bidabadi CAS 82 DMD 87 and Alireza Hakimi ENG 82 ENG 86

Daniel S. Budasoff PROS 80 and Barbara Budasoff

Joseph Calabrese DMD 91 AEGD 92 and Michele Calabrese SSW 93

Gennaro Cataldo

Vincent Celenza PROS 79 and Christine Celenza

Pelly Chang (In memory of Chung Chang and OShun Chang)

Peng Cheng DMD 10

Samuel Coffin CAS 73 DMD 78 Questrom 85 and Deborah Coppa

Shadi Daher DMD 90 OMFS 94 and Milagros Serrano

Larry Dunham DMD 83 and Lynn Dunham MET 81

Maged El-Malecki DMD 02

Margaret R. Errante and Mark Crotwell

Neal Fleisher DMD 84 PERIO 86 and Peggy Fleisher

Michael Furia DMD 95 and Flor Furia

Raul I. Garcia and Linnea W. Garcia

Mareen George DMD 01 and Sanjay Mathew

Russell Giordano

John Guarente DMD 89 and Barbara Guarente

Camila Guiri Guiribitey DMD 21 and Juan Carlos Izquierdo DMD 21

Hikmat Hannawi DMD 99

Michelle Henshaw SPH 96 DPH 07 and Cliff Marble

Zhiqiang Huang DMD 08

Yanling Jiang DSc 91 DMD 95 ENDO 99 and Tao Xu DSc 90 DMD 95

Michael Jory DMD 96 and Rhonda Jory

Suneel Kandru ENDO 07 and Santhi Kilaru

Thomas Kilgore and Colleen Kilgore

Puneet Kochhar DMD 03 and Shweta Kochhar

Celeste V. Kong PROS 84 DMD 87

Maria Kukuruzinska

David Lee DMD 98 and Susan Lee

Cataldo Leone and Rosemary Leone

Xiaojing Li DSc 03 DMD 07 and Jungmee Youn Dsc 06 PERIO 06 DMD 08

Bing Liu DSc 99 DMD 03 and Hong Dong

Hongsheng Liu DMD 10 ENDO 12 and Min Zhu PhD 12 DMD 17

Khushbu Malhotra DMD 18 and Sumeet Malhotra DMD 10

Madalyn Mann DPH 76 and Robert Goldszer Questrom 99

Tim McDonough and Pam McDonough

Gigi Meinecke DMD 88 and Douglas Meinecke GRS 87

Robert Miller DMD 84 PERIO 86 and Sharon Miller

Ernesto Muller PERIO 61

Robert Moskal DMD 95 and Suzanne Moskal

Resmi Nair DMD 01 and Prajeet Nair

Azita Negahban DMD 94 AEGD 04

Sepideh Novid DMD 04 AEGD 05 and Aria Tavana

Debra Pan DMD 01 DPH 86 and Nelson Pan

Steven Perlman PEDO 76 and Harriet Perlman

Loubna Pla ENDO 08 and Philippe Pla

Madhuri Punaty DMD 01

Richard D. Rabbett III MET 10 (In memory of Kathi Ferland)

Sean Rayment DMD 97 DSc 00 and Daphne Rayment

Richard Rosen and Rosa Calcano DMD 96

David Russell and Sharin Russell

Mitchell Sabbagh DMD 87 and Kelly Sabbagh

Doug Schildhaus DMD 91 PEDO 93

Ronni A. Schnell DMD 81 and Richard Short CAS 76 DMD 82

Amir Shahbazian DMD 88 and Shahrzad Shahbazian DMD 96

Ali Basha Shaik DMD 15

Maryam Shomali CAS 87 ENDO 93 and Bahram Shomali

Jeanne Sinkford

Mingfang Su DMD 91

Tadeu Szpoganicz DMD 11 and Valeria Papa Szpoganicz

Tina Valades Tullberg DMD 84 and Ralph Tullberg

Naveen Verma DMD 04 and Monica Verma

James Wu OMFS 97 (In memory of Charles Wu)

Alumni Association Board

Sean Rayment DMD 97 DSc 00

President

Chandan Advani DMD 04

Ashish Agarwal DMD 17

Nazila Bidabadi CAS 82 DMD 87

Stephanie Brooks DMD 18

Matthew Caceci DMD 17

William Gordon CAS 84 DMD 88 ORTHO 90

Puneet Kochhar DMD 03

Bing Liu DSc 99 DMD 03

Hongsheng Liu DMD 10 ENDO 12

Gigi Meinecke DMD 88

Robert Miller DMD 84 PERIO 86

Gary Nord DMD 10

Sepideh Novid DMD 04 AEGD 05

Casey Pedro DMD 03

Jamily Pedro DMD 11

Loubna Chehab Pla ENDO 08

Jignesh Rudani DMD 17

Maryam Shomali CAS 87 ENDO 93

Tadeu Szpoganicz DMD 11

Shervin Tabeshfar AEGD 10 PROS 13

Naveen Verma DMD 04

Donald Yu ENDO 81

Past Presidents

Zhimon Jacobson PROS 80 PROS 81 DMD 86 (1992–1994)

Bill Walker ENDO 68 (1994–1997)

Ronnie A. Schnell DMD 81 (1997–2000)

Josephine Pandolfo CAS 74 DMD 79 PERIO 82 (2000–2003)

Maddy Apfel DMD 80 (2003–2006)

Joseph Calabrese DMD 91 AEGD 92 (2006–2008)

Shadi Daher DMD 90 OMFS 94 (2008–2010)

Tina Valades DMD 84 (2010–2012)

Mitch Sabbagh DMD 87 (2012–2014)

Bing Liu DSc 99 DMD 03 (2014–2017)

Dean’s Advisory Board

David Paul Lustbader CAS 86 DMD 86 Chair

Chief of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Milton Hospital

Immediate Past-President, Massachusetts Dental Society

Clinical Instructor in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Boston University

Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

Founder, South Shore Oral Surgery Associates

Quincy, Massachusetts

Donald Booth

Professor and Chair Emeritus, Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Former Associate Dean for Hospital Affairs, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

Retired Chief, Department of Dentistry

Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Boston Medical Center Rye, New Hampshire

Donald Casey, Jr. CEO, Dentsply Sirona York, Pennsylvania

Sudha Chinta ENDO 09

Founder, Danville Endodontics, Danville, California

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Endodontics, University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dental Medicine

San Francisco, California

Shadi Daher DMD 90 OMFS 94 Cofounder and President, Medical Missions for Children

Past President, Boston University

Alumni Council

Past President, Boston University

Henry M.Goldman School of Dental Medicine Alumni Association

Clinical Assistant Professor in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Boston University

Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine Westwood, Massachusetts

Richard A. Konys DMD 84 OMFS 88 Founder, Eastside Dental Fayetteville, New York

Jonathan B. Levine DMD 81

Immediate Past Chair, Boston University

Henry M. Goldman School of Dental

Medicine Dean’s Advisory Board

Founder & CEO, GLO Science

Founder, Jonathan B. Levine & Associates New York, New York

Geoffrey Ligibel

President & CEO, 42 North Dental Waltham, Massachusetts

Madalyn Mann DPH 76

Former Director, Applied Professional Experience (APEX) & Extramural Programs, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

Miami, Florida

Timothy McDonough

Executive Director of Finance & Operations

Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

Boston, Massachusetts

Alon Mozes

CEO, Neocis Inc.

Miami, Florida

Thomas Olsen

President and General Manager, North American Nobel Biocare

Yorba Linda, California

Mina Paul SPH 97

Administrative Dental Director, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center

Former Chair, Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry

Past President, American Association of Dental Boards

Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in General Dentistry, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

Boston, Massachusetts

Sean Rayment DMD 97 DSc 00

President, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine Alumni Association

Founder, Medfield Smiles

Medfield, Massachusetts

Uday Reebye DMD 98

Founder, Triangle Implant Center

Clinical Adjunct Faculty, UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Jeanne C. Sinkford

Former Associate Executive Director, Center for Equity and Diversity, American Dental Education Association (ADEA)

Dean Emeritus, Howard University College of Dentistry

Washington, D.C.

Richard A. Soden LAW 70

Partner Emeritus, Goodwin Procter LLP

Chairman, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

In Memoriam

Raymond George Sr. ORTHO 66

Raymond George of Lincoln, passed away Monday, October 15, 2018 at home. Born April 17, 1939, in Seekonk, MA, he was a son of the late George L. George and Adrienne (Corriveau) George. He was the husband of Sonjia (Gundersen) George.

Dr. George attended Brown University, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (Cum Laude) and Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Graduate Dentistry. He was honorably discharged as a Captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps in 1968 and has been a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics since 1975.

In reflecting on his career, Dr. George said, “One of my greatest joys in practicing orthodontics has been seeing the changes our orthodontic treatment has made in the personalities of our patients as they gain more confidence in their appearance.”

In addition to his wife, Dr. George leaves his daughter Semia Dunne of Lincoln; his sons, Christiaan George of East Brookfield, MA, and Chafic George of Lincoln; 8 grandchildren, Kelsey, Jenna, Nicholas, T.K., Luke, Landon, Mason and William Raymond. He was the brother of Semia Gorman of Indian Town, FL, Janet Ward of Maumee, OH, Paul George of the Villages, FL, and Pauline McHugh also of the Villages, FL. He was the father of the late Dr. Raymond George Jr. ORTHO 88.

George Keleher of Somerville, formerly of Needham, passed away on November 29, 2018. He was the beloved husband of Katherine (Flannery) Keleher and was predeceased by his first wife Carolyn (Pytel) Keleher. He was the loving father of Maura Polombo of Grafton, Michael Keleher of Tampa, FL, and Thomas Keleher of Waltham, and brother of James Keleher of Taunton. He was also survived by six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Dr. Keleher joined GSDM in 1976 as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Operative Dentistry. He spent the next four decades enriching the lives of countless students—serving as a role model, a mentor, even a debate judge—until his retirement in 2014 as a clinical associate professor of General Dentistry. Toward the end of his career at GSDM, he was particularly passionate about improving students’ performance on licensure exams, and supported students in this through the administration of mock exams, just one example of his dedication to the School and its educational mission. In addition to his work at GSDM, Dr. Keleher also conducted a private dental practice in Sherborn, Massachusetts.

Sydell Shaw

Sydell Shaw, of Dedham, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on Monday, July 2, 2018, at the age of 88. She was the beloved wife of the late Robert B. Baron, the loving mother of Dr. James and Andrea Stein of Wayland, and adored grandmother of Michael and Dr. Brett Stein.

Dr. Shaw was awarded a BA from New York University in 1950 and subsequently earned her DDS degree from New York University in 1953 where she was a classmate of Dr. Herbert Schilder, founding chair of GSDM’s Department of Endodontics. In 1971, she was recruited by Dr. Schilder to GSDM where she was appointed as an instructor of Endodontics; four years later, she was promoted to Clinical Assistant Professor of Endodontics. In 1984, she was named director of predoctoral admissions and student services. Dr. Shaw was subsequently promoted to assistant dean for predoctoral admissions and student services in 1992 and then later to associate dean for admissions and student services in 1998.

In later years, as she transitioned toward retirement, Dr. Shaw continued to engage in all facets of the predoctoral admissions process as an Admissions Associate. Dr. Shaw retired in May 2010 after nearly four decades of dedicated service to GSDM. As one of the first female Endodontists in the United States, she was a tremendous source of inspiration for other women who had an interest in entering the dental profession.

As the head of Admissions at GSDM, Dr. Shaw touched and inspired the lives of countless students. She thoroughly enjoyed engaging with applicants during the admissions process and delighted in following their progress during their academic careers both at GSDM and beyond. Dr. Shaw’s dedication to the School was unwavering. Her kind and gentle nature was a calming influence for new arrivals to the School where she offered support, guidance and professional advice that allowed them to succeed in their academic program and later in their careers. She was unique and inspiring as a teacher, mentor, role model and friend.

Susan E. Cote DPH 99 Portland, ME; August 28, 2018

Paul K. Dargon DMD 75 April 2, 2018

Toby A. Dolan, Dental Assistant 77 Cape Coral, FL; August 27, 2018

John C. Gentile ORTHO 82 Queens, NY; January 21, 2018

Jonathan M. Gutman DMD 75 Tucson, AZ; January 12, 2018

Alvin A. Krakow ENDO 62 Danbury, CT; October 20, 2018

John C. Manning, manager of Dental Supply Store Boston, MA; October 14, 2018

Stephen Paul ORTHO 91 Bangor, ME; October 17, 2018

Elliot Salloway PERIO 61 Aventura, FL; October 31, 2018

John Vietas ORTHO 70 Arlington, MA; January 11, 2019

Veronica Walsh, orthodontic clinic coordinator Randolph, MA; February 3, 2019

Walter J. Watson PERIO 65 Jacksonville, FL; May 29, 2018

THE LAST WORD

In 2006, the first student from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine participated in an international rotation. The following year, four students traveled to two countries, and now, approximately 40 students participate in either the International Elective Exchange or International Elective Externship Programs each academic year. When students return from either of these rotations, their excitement is palpable, and they almost unanimously report that these trips were life changing and one of the most beneficial experiences of their four years in dental school.

For us, the most gratifying part of these programs is seeing how students transform. Both of the programs provide students a new lens with which to view and evaluate what they have learned at GSDM—and they are often able to incorporate different approaches into their own practice. On these international trips, they often see conditions they would never encounter in the U.S., or they see diseases that are more common, but are in such advanced stages that the treatment brings new challenges or requires alternative approaches.

The clinical transformation is typically the most obvious—but equally important is the personal effect these rotations have on students. In both programs, students are immersed in different cultures, which gives them a better understanding of and appreciation for the cultural differences they see among their patients in the U.S. The International Elective Exchange Program also helps students develop a nuanced understanding of different models of education, policy, and healthcare delivery, which they can then use to inform their own practice and the U.S. policy conversation. On the international externship rotations, students see firsthand how in developing countries—where families often live in threewalled dwellings with no running water or electricity—people have learned to live in pain because they have no access to care. Patients will walk miles and wait for hours to receive care, and are always thankful to for the care they receive. Both programs do more to enhance cultural sensitivity and to teach how environmental context affects oral health than hours spent in the classroom.

It is clear that these international experiences ensure GSDM graduates are prepared to practice in the increasingly diverse communities in which we live, to be model members of the global community, and to be leaders in the oral-healthcare profession. We see it firsthand with our alumni, who not only want to make a difference in the oral health of populations globally, but also want to share their knowledge and ensure that current students have the same opportunity that they were afforded.

It’s also the generous donations of alumni like you that help sustain this program and make it accessible to all GSDM students. It is so gratifying to hear of alumni who continue to stay involved in this work—whether by volunteering on missions or through philanthropy—and we are truly humbled to be a part of this growing cadre of talented and dedicated individuals in order to continue to provide our students with this amazing educational opportunity.

Michelle Henshaw SPH 96 DPH 04

Professor of Health Policy & Health Services Research Associate Dean, Global & Population Health

Kathleen Held

Assistant Professor of Global & Population Health Director, Global Initiatives

Boston University Henry M. Goldman

School of Dental Medicine

635 Albany Street

Boston, MA 02118

Development & Alumni Relations

Solomon Carter Fuller Building 85 East Newton Street, 10th floor Boston, MA 02118

bu.edu/dental

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